Sekvantoj

Tuesday, 22 January 2008

"Gealtacht" sa Ghaeltacht

The former Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Gerry Coyle, has called for English place names to be added to the signposts for Gaeltacht areas, stating that Irish-only signs are confusing for tourists visiting the area.

Following the Official Languages Act 2003, all signposts in Gaeltacht areas use the Irish version of the place name only, with the English place name removed. Signs pointing to Belmullet, for example, now have only Béal an Mhuirthead written on them, and Cllr Coyle claims that, in most cases, signs do not match with the names on the maps.

The Geesala-based councillor said that thousands of euro are being spent on marketing Erris and Belmullet as tourist destinations. However, he said that these names are being marketed using their English name, yet, according to the Languages Act, these places do not exist.

“All the signs leading to Erris are in Irish and it is crazy that people looking for Belmullet on the map cannot find it on the sign. It was lunacy to change the signs and both names should be on it…”